Shadow of Love
by Bodaiju92
Summary: Anna and Kristoff prepare for one more adventure together: parenthood. Nothing ever goes as perfectly as you expect however, and between helping to rule a kingdom, raising children and having tolls for in-laws, Anna's newest adventure may just be her most dangerous yet.


**Chapter 1**

The stables were warm and the air sweet with straw and sugar-beet. Anna lowered the hood of her winter cape and crept towards the farthest stall. Outside, the distant rumble of thunder betrayed an incoming storm. It had lingered on the western horizon all afternoon; where dark clouds, fringed by an insipid sun, swallowed the ocean whole. That was partly why she had come here in the first place. Once the storm set in, there was no way Elsa would let her leave the castle and that meant not seeing Kristoff. After having no contact with the ice harvester for almost a month, the thought of not welcoming him home just seemed ludicrous.

Sven was the first to see her. Snorting and stamping his hooves in excitement, he bumped his muzzle into her chest with such abandon that she creased and stumbled backwards, laughing.

"Hey, watch it buddy," Kristoff shoved the reindeer away with a playful push and reached out to steady his wife.

She took his hand gratefully. "I'm fine," she insisted, pushing back stray strands of hair from her face and smoothing down her skirts.

Kristoff did not seem convinced and rested one of his large hands on the ever-increasing curve of her stomach. There was a flicker of movement beneath his fingertips and he smiled, more to himself than to Anna who watched him with crimson cheeks. It was their second pregnancy but since finding out it was a girl, and Anna didn't see _how_ the midwives could know that but apparently it had something to do with the way she carried, the ice harvester had become even _more _protective than last time. When he wasn't forced to the North Mountain, he spent every moment pandering to her. It was a far cry from the mountain man she had first encountered eight years ago, but she wasn't exactly complaining. Besides, once the baby was here she knew he'd only have eyes for their daughter and she looked upon sharing the attention with mixed feelings.

"Welcome home, anyway," she said eventually, realising that she was letting the silence stretch a little too long, "We missed you. Joseff wanted to come with me but he fell asleep before seven and I didn't have the heart to wake him."

"Didn't have the courage, you mean," Kristoff teased, pressing his lips to hers in a quick, tender kiss, "That kid is less of a morning person than you are."

Now that she was in his arms, Anna realised just how cold her husband actually was. His face was flushed with colour from the ride down the mountain and the thick goat's hair tunic saturated with snow and ice. She rubbed his arms with her gloved hands in a feeble attempt of warming him up. He chuckled and swatted her away, lacing his fingers through hers and pulling her towards the doorway. "Nice work Sven," he said, ruffling the reindeer between the antlers affectionately, "See you in the morning, Buddy."

Sven snorted and lay down in the straw. He was asleep before they even made it out of the stables. Anna elbowed the ice harvester and grinned, "Sometimes, I feel like we already have two children."

* * *

On their way to bed, Kristoff insisted on stopping at their son's room. Unable to deny him his request, because she still found it ridiculously adorable whenever Kristoff got all fatherly; she led the way to where she had left their only child. He was still asleep, flat on his back and arms outstretched either side of him, hands dangling off the sides of the mattress. He'd kicked the covers off in his dreams and Kristoff carefully untangled them from his feet, pulling them back up to his chin. Anna leaned inside the doorway; arms folded carefully over her bump and smiled, spreading the fingers of her left hand out across her stomach where their daughter fluttered beneath her fingertips like a bird.

Having tucked his son into bed to a high enough standard, Kristoff brushed his lips against the boys forehead and closed the bedroom door. Anna linked her arm with his and pointed in a rather flamboyant fashion towards their bedroom. "Shall we retire for the night, o' prince of the North Mountain?"

Kristoff snorted with laughter and tugged at the long, red braid of her hair, "You're weird, do I ever tell you that?"

"All the time, but it's okay because you're pretty weird too."

* * *

They had been in bed all of five minutes when the storm arrived. Anna turned her face to the window in time to see a fork of lightning pierce the horizon, dazzling her vision for a moment. She blinked the blindness away and buried down into the sheets. Beside her, Kristoff was already dozing off. She supposed he had a right to be tired; he'd spent the last month harvesting ice after all and the north mountain did not make for hospitable accommodation. She rolled onto her side, a feat made difficult by her swollen stomach, and reached out in the darkness to gently brush hair from Kristoff's closed eyes. He stirred under her touch but did not wake fully and the princess bit down a giggle.

At twenty-nine, Kristoff had changed only a little in appearance over the years. He'd filled out, eight more years in the mountains had seen to that and he'd grown golden coloured stubble along his jaw line and down the curve of his throat. Other than that, not a lot had changed and she could still see the boyish charm of his features, the broad nose and dark eyes tell-tale signs of his harvester heritage; the lineage of a mountain man. Not for the first time since starting a family, Anna wondered what it must be like to grow up with no parents at all. The only time she had ever seen Kristoff's lack of history bother him was during the months leading up to Joseff's birth when he suddenly seemed to realise that he had never had a father figure to go off. It had taken all of three seconds holding the newborn for those worries to melt away, but the five months prior had been a nightmare.

Thunder rolled louder above them and even though the windows were firmly shut and locked, the wind had somehow managed to make ghosts of the curtains and moaned through the smallest of gaps between frame and glass. Anna shuddered and edged a little closer to her still-sleeping husband. When their bedroom door opened she had to bite her knuckles to stop the scream in her throat escaping.

But it was only Joseff, tired and frightened of the storm. He clutched his teddy bear in one hand, a present from Elsa, and rubbed his eyes with the other. "Mama," he spoke softly, still half-asleep. Anna's heart tugged and she lifted the covers to let her son climb in. He did so without hesitation and found the minute space between his parent's bodies. His wriggling woke Kristoff who took in the scene of his frightened wife and son from under half closed lids.

"You guys are as bad as each other," he grumbled into his pillow, lifting an arm for his family to seek refuge. "How do you cope when I'm not here?"

"Mama doesn't..." Joseff whispered, intending for only his father to hear but not quite managing it as sleep took all control away from his mind.

Anna huffed, "I do too cope," she argued, but it fell on deaf ears. The two boys had already fallen asleep without her.

* * *

**Hello and welcome to my fanfiction. I hope you enjoy it and please review and let me know what you think as feedback is always useful and appreciated. I have tried to keep the characters actually 'in character' but it's a bit difficult when I'm also writing them as eight years older so please bear with me on that one (it's a work in progress). I actually find light-hearted characters the hardest to write so this should be fun...**

**This story and the design for Anna and Kristoff's children is inspired by the amazing art work of xxMeMoRiEzxx on Deviantart - I suggest you take a look!**


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